


His Downfall

by Kat_Herondale



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age of Ultron AU, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Farm Scene from AOU AU, Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 06:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5655982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Herondale/pseuds/Kat_Herondale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Barney Barton greeted them with a shot gun and an overly excited dog. The house behind him was falling apart from lack of care. But Clint figured that would be okay. They needed somewhere safe to hide and he missed his dog."</p>
<p>An alternate version of the farm scene from Age Of Ultron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Downfall

**Author's Note:**

> So I was writing an entire Age of Ultron AU story that paralleled canon but didn't have a lot of the aspects that seemed strange for the movie. In less than a day I decided to scrap that and simply work on this scene, which is the reason why it starts where it does. I could easily add on another part if anyone seems interested in it, otherwise I'll simply keep it as a one shot. I actually did have more planned for this, which included a cameo from Fury. Anyways, thank you so much for reading this! ((Please ignore any errors, I've been up since 4 writing this.)

 

Barney Barton greeted them with a shot gun and an overly excited dog. To be honest, Clint was just happy to see Lucky. Barney took one look at the Avengers and wheeled himself back inside. Clint was too busy greeting his dog for it to matter. However, for his friend’s sake he gave them the best explanation possible.

“That’s my brother Barney. He’s kind of an asshole,” Clint said.

Lucky licked Clint’s face, getting slobber everywhere. That caused Natasha’s mouth to twitch upwards. She knelt down and Lucky went over to her.

“Your dog only has one eye,” Tony said, surprised.

Clint nodded. “And Lucky loves pizza.”

At the mention of pizza the dog abandoned Natasha and began barking at Clint.

“Barney,” Clint hollered towards the small farm house. “Order some pizza.”

Clint led them towards the house, his feet sinking in the mud around them. He caught sight of a chicken and was shocked Barney had gotten one. The nearest neighbor, who was nearly a half mile away, had probably forced him into taking their old, useless chickens.

Natasha seemed surprised at the newest additions as well. She had been with Clint the last time he visited, right after Loki messed with his mind. As soon as he felt better, Clint took off unable to spend the quality time with a brother who had screwed him over so much.

 The house was tiny and completely falling apart. Clint had taken over his family’s estate due to a foreclosure from another family living there. He had originally intended to give the house back to them after spending half his salary on it, but the large family had found somewhere better to live. So Clint gave the house to the only person who could tolerate it. At the time that had been Barney.

Clint pushed open the door, which was nearly falling off its hinge. He stepped over the place with the missing floorboard and made his way towards the kitchen. Despite all of Barney’s flaws, he had always managed to keep the inside orderly. Even with the rotten couch, the place still seemed mostly nice.

Thor tripped over the hole in the floor, nearly stumbling into Steve. Tony snorted and Bruce stepped out of the way, the gray sweater allowing him to blend in with the paint. Clint faintly remembered a time when that wall had been some strange eggshell color. His mother had once forced him to paint it. Clint looked away and hurried into another room.

“You could have called or something,” Barney shouted over the loud TV.

Clint flipped it off before Bruce could see the news reports complaining about the Hulk and all of the damage he caused. Natasha fell down on the couch, coughing when dust came off it.

“You don’t have a phone, moron.”

“He does,” Natasha interrupted sweetly. “I call him every night.”

Barney laughed. The noise caused Clint to flinch. He moved to the couch and flung himself on it, head landing in Natasha’s lap. She was playing her part in this little wannabe family in order to cheer up the other Avengers. It made Clint’s heart break. They had come so far and that girl ruined all of their progress. Clint made a loud disgusted noise.

“Clint,” Barney said, wheeling himself into the room. “Come here.”

He pushed himself off the couch and walked over to his brother. The Avengers were watching this exchange with expressions that ranged from amused to confused. Clint was honestly pissed at himself for falling for this stupid trick again. Barney ran his wheelchair over Clint’s foot, looking him dead in the eye as he did so. Clint grimaced, not wanting to give him the emotion he was going for.

Natasha knew where this conversation was going, so she coughed loudly to gain their attention.

“As much as I enjoy upsetting Clint, I think you should go order the food. I’m hungry.”

Barney had always had a soft spot for Natasha. Perhaps it’s because she looked him in the eye and never put up with any of the shit he tried to throw her way when they first met. Clint wished he knew how that worked, he wouldn’t mind to be on his brother’s good side for once in his life. Barney rolled his wheelchair back over Clint’s foot with the largest grin ever. Then he reached in Clint’s pocket and snatched the phone. He disappeared into another room.

“Anyways,” Clint said.

The Avengers stared at him.

“You have a brother,” Tony said. “Or is he a retired agent?”

Clint rolled his eyes and threw himself back on the couch. The furniture had been replaced after his parents had died, but everything still seemed just as old. The picture on the wall was of nobody Clint knew. The farmer down the road had probably given the frame to Barney, who never bothered to replace the picture. Instead, a happy brunette woman and her 2.5 kids watched over the living room.

“I sure as hell hope he’s my brother,” Clint retorted. “Otherwise I’ve been putting up with a stranger’s ass for years.”

Barney came back from the kitchen, glaring at Clint before focusing on the Avengers. He wasn’t exactly rude to them but he sure as hell wasn’t friendly.

“Why are you here?”

Clint mentally took back the rude part. Cap shifted, setting his shield over his back. He and Thor exchanged a glance. Tony straightened his shoulders and frowned. Bruce very nearly blended in with the wall.

“I brought them here, dumbass,” Clint said, rolling his eyes. “Be nice or I’ll evict you.”

Lucky bounded in the door, now covered in mud. He tracked dirt all over the living room carpet and ran up to Bruce. He started licking the scientist’s hand and barking. Bruce seemed to be at a loss on what to do. So, since Lucky wasn’t getting the attention he wanted, he moved down the line to Tony, Thor, and finally Steve.

“Now all you need is a tracksuit,” Natasha said.

Clint and Barney both laughed at that. The Avengers seemed completely confused and Clint didn’t want to bother explaining the story behind that comment. If they asked about Lucky, then he would go into a full depth conversation about the evil landlords and the rescue of his dog.

Yet again, Barney left the room, grumbling something under his breath. This time he was gone for a lot longer. Clint plopped himself back on the couch and made some sort of awkward gesture for his teammates to sit wherever they liked. Steve sat down on the couch, not at all worried about anything that could be lurking inside. Clint always had to remind himself that he and Cap had both grown up poor. If he had to take a guess, he’d figure Bruce grew up like them too.

Tony nearly made a noise as he sat down in the cleanest armchair. Without looking at her, Clint knew Natasha had silenced him with a glare. Thor frowned and shook his head. With some sort of quick excuse, he left to go think about his vision or something. Thor’s back had been to Clint when he said that and his hearing aid was starting to go. At this point Clint was relying heavily on lip reading. He nearly wished he had asked Tony to help with creating a better quality one.

They sat there in silence for what felt like hours. Clint was waiting for the pizza, stretched across the couch with his head on Natasha’s lap and his feet carelessly thrown on top of Steve, Lucky happily sat on his chest. After a while it dawned on Clint that he was being a poor host.

“There’s probably a working shower upstairs, if anyone wants to use it.”

Clint could see the silent exchange between Tony and Bruce, arguing over who would go first. Steve stood up and made his way towards the stairs. Tony quickly raced after him to try and get to the shower first. Quietly, Bruce trailed behind.

It left Natasha, Lucky, and him alone. He didn’t know what to say, so he pushed himself off her lap and stared at her.

_Nat, you okay?_ He signed.

She hesitated.

“I’m tired, Clint,” she said, finally. “The Maximoff girl reminded me of everything I tried so hard to fix. It was years of them torturing me. I came out a monster. I’ve killed so many people.”

Natasha seemed so calm when she said all of this, like she was simply reciting facts. It hurt Clint so badly for her to even feel something like that. But that was the problem with their job. Nobody would ever be free of emotions, despite how hard Red Room, Hydra, or anyone else tried to erase them.

“You fixed it. You took the reputation of the Black Widow and turned it into a superhero, Nat. You’re a hero, so many people admire you.”

“Yes, with all those posters of me strung up on their walls,” she deadpanned.

Before Clint could say anything else, Cap walked down the stairs. He ran a head through his wet hair and stopped, staring at them in confusion. Clint then realized how close they were. In another life, everything with Natasha would have been so much easier. They could have happily lived their lives together, free of any of this shit they have been through.

“Am I interrupting?” Steve said.

“No,” Clint quickly replied. “I thought there was a cut on Nat’s face.”

He pulled away from where he had been sitting, upsetting Lucky. Steve took the excuse and nodded, plopping down on the armchair.

“How’d you get Lucky?”

Clint grinned wider than Steve had probably ever seen. He quickly launched into the story, excluding the parts with Kate. The Avengers didn’t need to know about his apprentice, not yet anyways.

 


End file.
